That Strange Black Cat
by bookluvrxoxo
Summary: He's always at her side, comforting her, and yet she can't even understand him. To prevent Amu from leaving him, he sacrifices his human form, to become a cat. What happens when a man has been a cat for 9 years, suddenly becomes human again?
1. Prologue

**A/N Hey! It's Bookluvrxoxo; hopefully this fanfiction will be better than my last :) I hope you guys enjoy and review!**

**For the purposes of this story Ikuto and Amu will be the same age.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara, no matter how much I wish I could.**

Prologue

"Ikuto come on! We'll miss the light! Momma and Papa finally let me leave the house. I'm not as sick anymore. Hurry!"

A young blue haired boy glared at the enthusiastic pinkette. She smiled and ran ahead.

"Amu, don't cross, the lights going to change, AMU!"

The energetic little girl didn't even notice the light turning to green, and the speeding car.

"AMU!"

**Break line**

"Hello, this is Higurashi Erika, live, on Tokyo News Network. Today, at the corner of Elm and Maple, a seven year old girl, Hinamori Amu, was the victim of a hit and run. Eye witnesses report that it was a blue van. It appears that the Ms. Hinamori is at the hospital, and has minor injuries."

"Ikuto, honey, don't watch this." Tsukiyomi Souko turned off the TV, and turned to face her son. "We'll go to the hospital to visit her tomorrow, okay?"

Ikuto didn't respond, he just stared blankly at the black TV screen.

"I know you've been friends forever, but be strong for her, ne?"

The blue head just barely nodded up and down.

**Break line**

"Souko! Thank you for coming." Amu's mother, Hinamori Midori, hugged Souko.

Ikuto looked around, hating all of the white, and the smell of antiseptic.

"Thank you for coming too, Ikuto." Mrs. Hinamori had a gentle smile on her face as she looked at the boy. "I'm sure Amu's delighted. Please, come in."

Mrs. Hinamori ushered Ikuto into a room with a few chairs, another door, and a tall bed. On that bed laid a little girl, her pink curls spread carelessly over the pillow, a serene smile on her innocent face. Midori took one more look at her daughters face, and then softly closed the door behind her.

As quietly as Ikuto could manage, he pushed a chair over to the side of the bed, and scrambled up it. Just as soon as Ikuto could get a proper look at his best friends face, her wide, golden eyes opened.

"Hey Ikuto," Amu managed a small, tired smile. "I'm sorry."

Ikuto shook his head. "Why are you sorry? You're the one who's hurt!"

"I can't," Here, Amu paused for a minute to cough. "I can't, keep my promise."

A confused look flitted across the other boys face. "Why not?"

"Because Ikuto, I can hear the grownups talking. There's something wrong with me, something they can't fix." Ikuto's eyes widened as he took in this news.

"But-" Ikuto never got to finish his sentence, for Amu coughed into a tissue. A rough cough, that made her whole body shake. She continued to cough.

"Amu? Amu?" Ikuto shook Amu's shoulders.

"Too, tired Ikuto. Need to, sleep." Amu's whole body relaxed as she drifted off into her dreams. Ikuto looked at the tissue.

It was red.

**Break line**

They thought he couldn't hear them, they thought wrong. Ikuto knew what the grownups were saying. He understood that everything was changing.

"The poor Hinamori family! Did you hear? Their little girl, Amu, has a bad case of pneumonia; they just thought it was the flu! The only reason they found out about it was because she got hit by a car and had to be taken to the hospital! They say it's too late; the injuries from the car weakened her body even further, speeding the process along. Poor Ikuto too! His father just ran off, and now his best friend is going to die soon!"

**Break line**

Ikuto lay on his bed, the room around him dark, but he didn't care. He was too busy thinking about Amu.

_Ikuto and Amu lay on their backs looking at the stars. Ikuto took Amu to his favorite place, the roof. He could think about things, and clear his head while looking at the sky._

_For the longest time, they just looked up, never saying a word, just gazing at the bright constellations. That is, until, Ikuto broke the silence._

"_My dad is leaving."_

"_What?" Amu exclaimed in a loud voice. Ikuto motioned her to quiet down._

"_Yeah, he's going to travel the world, playing his violin."_

_There was a long pause, until Amu finally spoke up again._

"_Hey, cheer up! I'll be here." She turned her eyes away from the vast sky, to look at her blue haired companion. "I'll never leave."_

_Ikuto turned his blue eyes to stare into his friends golden ones. "How do you know, how can you be so certain?"_

"_I just know!" Amu smiled brilliantly. "You want to be _absolutely _certain I won't leave you?" Ikuto nodded wordlessly. Amu sat up._

"_I, Hinamori Amu, promise I will never, ever, _ever, _leave Ikuto." She turned to look at him sternly. "And a Hinamori _never_ breaks a promise." She smiled again and lay down._

_They lay like that for another hour, hands clasped, and smiles on their faces._

Why did you do it Amu? Why must you break your promise?

**Break line**

Ikuto sat on his roof, gazing at the night sky, the same sky that Amu made her promise under. A streak of light flashed across the night sky.

A shooting star.

Ikuto closed his eyes, face very serious.

_I wish, _Ikuto thought _I wish Amu won't die, and that I can stay by her side._

**Break line**

"Hello, this is Higurashi Erika, live, on Tokyo News Network. If you remember the hit and run that occurred a couple weeks ago, you will be delighted to hear that we have caught the criminal. Also, Hinamori Amu has been discharged from the hospital after a remarkable recovery after suffering a life threatening case of pneumonia.

In other news, local boy Tsukiyomi Ikuto has gone missing. He is seven years old, and he has blue hair and eyes. The main suspect is Tsukiyomi Aruto, Ikuto's father who went missing just one week prior. If you have seen either of these two shown in the picture above, please call the police."

**Break line**

Amu burst into her house, happy to finally be away from the hospital. Immediately she went up to her room, and all of the happiness drained out of her face. Everything in her room was a constant reminder of Ikuto. He still hadn't come back.

_How am I supposed to keep my promise if he's not here?_ Amu thought.

She went around her room, the pictures of her and Ikuto, the little stuffed cat he got her; everything reminded her of her loyal friend.

Amu's golden eyes suddenly became glassy with tears.

_Meow_

"What was that?" Amu wondered aloud.

_Meow_

Amu opened her glass doors that led to the balcony, and shivered as a cold breeze wrapped around her.

_Meow_

"Oh!"

There, on her railing, sat a kitten.

This kitten had shiny blue fur, and the deepest, most intelligent blue eyes Amu had ever seen. Amu turned her head to one side, and the kitten copied her movement.

_You almost, you almost look like Ikuto! _Amu thought. The girl extended her arms to the creature, and he leaped willingly into them.

"Yes." Amu smiled. "You can be called Ikuto."

**A/N Hope you enjoyed it! I don't know exactly when I will find the time to type up the next chapter, but I will try to make updates weekly, or within two weeks.**

**I know I know, bad, but so much better than with my other story.**

**Remember, Review!**

**Review inspire me to update faster**

**Hint hint**

**Bookluvrxoxo**


	2. Chapter 1

**I apologize to you, my life got really hectic all of the sudden**

**But here it is, enjoy**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara**

Chapter 1

*10 Years Later*

Ikuto the cat stretched in the warm sun, and examined his surroundings. He was inside his beloved person's room, curled up next to her head on the bed. Amu's pink locks were disarrayed, and her face was peaceful, almost like that day.

The serene moment was shattered by the reality the obnoxious alarm clock brought. And suddenly, there was a lot of movement, and rushing. Amu's warm eyes opened as her brain tried to wake up. She sat up, shook her head a little, and then went to her closet to grab her uniform.

Ikuto watched affectionately as his owner jumped around, trying to pull on her second shoe while attempting to get to the other side of the room. She gave Ikuto a quick scratch and then rushed downstairs. Ikuto got up and gracefully jumped down from the bed.

Ever since that night, that night he wished on that star, he had been a cat. He didn't regret it at all, he would forever be at Amu's side. He loved her.

At least, he didn't regret it at first. It was when Amu began to come home all cloudy eyed and giddy, that he began to realize that he isn't the only guy in Amu's life. He wasn't even human. Being a cat wasn't enough. He couldn't _truly_ be at his loves side.

Ikuto was furious when Amu first brought Tadase home. At the time, they were only friends, but he could see the looks that were exchanged between those two, and he knew he had to do something. Nobody, especially Tadase, could look at Amu like that.

So, when Tadase leaned down to pet the cat, Ikuto bit him. It wasn't a quick nip either, he sank his teeth in. Tadase sucked in a breath of surprise as he gazed down at the cat. Ikuto's startling human eyes glared at him with hate as he clamped his jaws tighter, and reveled at the grimace on Tadase's face.

"Ikuto!" Amu scolded. "Don't do that!" She roughly grabbed her cat and made him let go of the bleeding Tadase. The pinkette set the cat down and she immediately went to Tadase to treat the two deep teeth marks. Ikuto fumed in the corner as he realized that he made the situation worse. Amu fawned over Tadase, and was angry at him.

"I'm so sorry Tadase-kun! Usually he's so mild. He's actually really sweet. I just don't know what has gotten into him!

That was his first encounter with his rival. Ever since then, Ikuto has tried his hardest to keep the two apart, and steal all of his beloved Amu's attention. It took a few months before Tadase started to get annoyed with the blue cat.

Ikuto will admit that he was defeated a few times. But he also turned out to be the victor in other skirmishes.

Tadase didn't really understand his relationship with Amu's strange cat. He was no longer comfortable at her house because wherever he was there, he could feel the unnatural eyes trained at his back. The cat seemed oddly human, and he most definitely didn't want Tadase to be there.

Although it was a bit silly, Tadase began to compete with the cat, until they sent withering glares at each other behind Amu's back, while she remained completely unaware of the rivalry between her crush, and her cat.

Ikuto's thoughts were disrupted when Amu arrived at the doorway, a piece of toast in her mouth.

"And Ikuto, Tadase-kun is coming over today, so behave." She looked at her best friend squarely in the eye before she ran out.

The cobalt cat turned tale and escaped out of Amu's open window, and followed her to school.

Meanwhile, Amu greeted her friend Rima as they walked to class together. Amu was well known as "Cool and Spicy" and Rima was known to be beautiful and cold. Nobody but their group of friends knew their actual personalities.

Amu met all of the friends she made through the student council and Seiyo High. This group consisted of Tadase (President) Nagihiko (Vice-President) Kairi (Treasurer) Rima (Secretary) Kukai and Yaya( Fundraisers) and then there was Amu. She was an exception. The student body thought that her "cool and spicy" attitude would be able to keep everybody in line. She is considered to be something like the Police Chief.

Ikuto didn't have a problem with any of Amu's friends, besides Tadase. The cat knew that Kairi liked his person, however, he wasn't enough of a threat for Ikuto to worry about.

After their meeting, Tadase asked if he could walk Amu home. Amu blushed and all of her friends exchanged looks and gave their two friends some privacy. Ikuto's eyes narrowed as Tadase led Amu away. Before he could follow them, Yaya spotted the cat and immediately scooped him up. Ikuto struggled in the excited girl's arms as she led him away to dress him up in the clothes she got just for him.

Meanwhile, Tadase walked Amu home, and she invited him in. Amu briefly wondered where her beloved cat was, and Tadase silently praised his good luck.

Amu led Tadase to her room, where they sat on her bed, and Tadase looked at her very seriously.

"Hinamori-san, there's something I would like to say." Red colored Amu's cheeks as she replied.

"H-Hai Tadase-kun?"

"Well,I-I"

Both of the teens jumped when they heard a whine at Amu's balcony.

"Ikuto! You came back." Amu jumped up from her seat to open the sliding door, and as she picked him up, the cat gave the forgotten Tadase a knowing look of satisfaction. She fawned over the cat for a few minutes before she remembered her guest.

"Oh! Tadase-kun! What were you going to say?"

"Ah, I got to go back now, I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Oh, well, by Tadase-kun."

Ikuto couldn't help but feel accomplished by his timed interruption as Tadase made a hasty retreat. No way was he going to let Tadase beat him. He couldn't have his Amu.

"Oh Ikuto, I wonder what he was going to say!" Her eyes glazed over as she thought of her shining prince.

"It's time for dinner Ikuto, let's go downstairs to eat." She picked up her cat and they made their way downstairs.

**Breakline**

That night, Ikuto looked up at the stars, and thought of how close Tadase was to taking the only person he cared about away forever.

_I wish I could really be there for Amu, not as a cat, but as a person._

As the blue cat wished this, a star streaked across the sky, and the cat fell asleep next to his persons head.

**Breakline**

Amu sleepily opened her eyes at the shrill sound of, not her alarm clock, but her phone. She glared at the bright red numbers flashing '8:03' at her.

"What Yaya?" Amu asked annoyed at being awakened on a Saturday.

"There's a sale going on, and I thought you might want to go before the rush." Amu immediately brightened after hearing that.

"Yeah, just give me a few moments to get dressed and feed Ikuto. Hmm, where is that silly cat. He always greets me in the morning."

"Maybe he's upset Yaya dressed him up yesterday!"

"Yaya! Why would you do that?"

"He's so fun! Don't worry, he always shows up right? And Tadase-kun will be here…"

"Okay, I'll just leave some food out, meet me in 20 minutes okay?"

And just like that, Amu forgot about her missing friend.

**Breakline**

"It's already 4! I need to see if Ikuto got home yet!" Tadase frowned at the thought of Amu leaving for _that cat_.

"Just call home. I'm sure your mom will tell you that he's home and happily eating a fish. Or something like that. That way you don't have to leave and we can spend some more time together."

"Good idea, I'll be back in a second." Tadase smiled, and gave her some privacy.

"Hey, mama? Is Ikuto home yet?...No?...where could he be?...Are you sure he isn't there? I'll look for him out here okay? Call me if he comes home."

Amu turned to her friends who were all worried by now.

"I'm sorry guys, but I have to go, Ikuto is missing and I need to find him."

"Yaya will help!"

"And so will we." Rima says with a little smile. She knew how important Ikuto was. Ikuto could always make her friend laugh, and comedy is very important.

Even though Tadase had a reassuring smile on his face, he was fuming inside at the thought of searching for that cat, but maybe he could comfort his crush. Yes, that's what I will do! We could split up into groups of two and-. Tadase's thoughts were interrupted when he saw the group splitting up.

"You looked like you spaced out there Hotori-kun. We're all going to split up to cover more ground. Come this way!" Tadase reluctantly followed his friend in the opposite direction of his love.

**Breakline**

Amu was back with her friends, and Ikuto was still missing.

"Amu, it's getting dark. You should head home." Amu only nodded and the crowd dispersed.

Instead of following Kairi's suggestion, Amu had a different destination in mind. One that meant a great deal to her. A place where her and the real Ikuto shared many memories, their amusement park.

When she arrived, the lights were already on, and one specific ride was on. Amu gazed in curiosity as her favorite ride went around and around. She couldn't quite see the person riding in her favorite teacup, but she was suddenly angry at this intruder. This, this person who was tainting her memories of Ikuto.

"Hey!" She yelled at the person, even though she knew that he probably couldn't hear her cries.

"What are you doing here? Get off the teacup and tell me what you're doing here!"

The ride stopped going around and around, and the cheery music faded. It took a while for the particular teacup to stop spinning. But when it did, and its rider looked into Amu's eyes, her words of anger died, and she was speechless.

The boy was scrunched up in the cup, his knee's reached his chest, but when he straightened out and stood, Amu had to look up a long way to see his familiar cobalt eyes.

"Wh-why are you here?"

His eyes held hers, as he walked over to meet her at the entrance. Amu couldn't move, it took all that she had to say that simple sentence.

His lips curved up in a small smile.

"I think you know why." Amu's form looked dwarfish next to this man, who now stood directly in front of her.

"Amu."

**A/N: Sorry it wasn't longer, I owe you guys so much after this but I thought that it had to end here. I'm sorry but I won't be able to update this week because it's mid-term week and the only reason I got this done was because of an awesome snow day. I apologize for not being more reliable but, guess what encourages unreliable writers like me.**

**Yep. You got it, reviews.**

**So please review and I will update as soon as I can.**

**Bookluvrxoxo**


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